The field of the disclosure relates generally to aircraft assemblies, and, more particularly, to a joint assembly for use in coupling a wing to an aircraft body.
An aircraft generally includes at least two wings coupled to a fuselage. Each wing includes a spar that couples to an associated body rib extending along the fuselage. More specifically, in at least some known aircraft, a joint assembly couples the spar to the associated body rib. The joint assembly may also be used to couple other components of the aircraft, such as the landing gear, to the fuselage.
At least some known joint assemblies are relatively complex assemblies that include a number of different components that are interconnected using fasteners. Because of the number of components and fasteners, such joint assemblies may be relatively expensive to manufacture, relatively time-consuming and difficult to assembly, and are relatively heavy. Further, at least some known joint assemblies include a rear spar bulkhead fitting component that includes two prongs separated by a relatively large gap. For example, FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a known rear spar bulkhead fitting component 10 that includes a first prong 12 and a second prong 14. First and second prongs 12 and 14 are separated by a gap 16. Accordingly, when loads are applied to rear spar bulkhead fitting component 10, a moment, or torque, may be induced by opposing forces in first and second prongs 12 and 14.